How Did They Get Here: Mia Yim
I found Mia Yim relatively late compared to others. I knew that she was in TNA for a while and was one of the Shimmer girls, but never got the chance to see her wrestle in those promotions. I didn’t see her wrestle until her competing in the first ever Mae Young Classic in 2017. After her second round bow out of the tournament, I started to dig deep and see more of her matches from the independent scene. And while looking at her journey to see how she got to where she is today in NXT, it is a very long road, but one that helped her develop into the wrestler and performer that she is today.
Yim first started to train to become a pro wrestler in 2008 at a wrestling school in Virginia while attending Marymount University on a volleyball scholarship and was a member of the school’s club football team. Yim made her in ring debut on November 14th, 2009, only 18 months into her training. Her debut match was a losing effort to Annie Social at Jersey All Pro Wrestling’s Girl Power event. It was very clear from an early point in her career that Yim would become a star in the world of pro wrestling.
Yim first started to train to become a pro wrestler in 2008 at a wrestling school in Virginia while attending Marymount University on a volleyball scholarship and was a member of the school’s club football team. Yim made her in ring debut on November 14th, 2009, only 18 months into her training. Her debut match was a losing effort to Annie Social at Jersey All Pro Wrestling’s Girl Power event. It was very clear from an early point in her career that Yim would become a star in the world of pro wrestling.
As she continued to train and learn how to be a pro wrestler, Yim continued to wrestle on the independent scene where she gained a ton of experience in 2010.She got her first win as a part of a six person tag team match where her and the team named the South Side Playaz Club, composed of Joe Hardway and Mo Sexton, over Annie Social and the team Osirian Portal, composed of Amasis and Ophidian, at JAPW Wild Card 6. Yim then was able to make her Shimmer debut at Volume 33 in a dark match where she teamed with Taylor Made in a win over Maja Svensson and Mena Libra. Yim was also in a dark match at Volume 35 against Svensson, where Svensson was victorious. Yim also had a number of matches with Mickie James on the independents. There was a pair of matches between the two in MCW Wrestling and another two matches in Northeast Wrestling, where James was victorious in all four accounts. Yim did get another win in JAPW over Annie Social, which put her in line for a shot at the JAPW Women’s championship against Sara Del Ray at JAPW The November to Remember, but she was unsuccessful in winning the championship. If the name Sara Del Ray sounds familiar, she is better known now by the name Sara Amato and is one of the coaches at the North American Performance Center.
Yim did make a big step in her pro wrestling career in 2011, when she made the trip to Japan where she competed for the Reina promotion at the UWWR 2 event where she met up against Hiroyo Matsumoto in a losing effort. Yim did suffer a few losses in Reina, but was able to enter in the promotions CMLL-Reina International Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament. She was victorious over Saya in the first round, but lost to Ray in the semifinals. She formed a team with Sara Del Ray to enter the CMLL-Reina Tag Team Championships tournament, but fell in the semifinals to the Canadian Ninjas, Nicole Matthews and Portia Perez. Yim returned to Shimmer and competed against some big names on her first main Shimmer card in a singles match that wasn’t a dark match. The first match was at Shimmer volume 41 against Kana (the future Asuka) where Kana was victorious. At Shimmer volume 42, Yim was in a triple threat which included Jessie McKay and Athena (the future Ember Moon) where Athena won. Yim competed for the Absolute Insane Wrestling women’s championship, but fell to Mickie Knuckles at Hell on Earth.
In 2012, we started to see a very important feud in Mia Yim’s career. She had her first match against Allysin Kay on January 29th, in AIW to determine the number one contender, where Yim was successful in the match. Yim also competed for the ACW American Joshi Championship on February 19th, but was unable to take the title from Angela Blue. Yim then was in a TLC match in CZW against Greg Excellent at Aerial Assault. Yim also continued to wrestle for Shimmer, losing to Jessie McKay (the future Billy Kay) at Volume 45 in singles action. At Volumes 46 to 48 Yim formed a team with Davina Rose (the future Bayley) and while the team lost to Leon and Ray at Volume 46 and The Canadian Ninjas at Volume 47, they were able to pick up the win over Melanie Cruise and Mena Libra at Volume 48 which marked Mia Yim’s first win on the main card of a Shimmer event. Yim then went to form a team with Jessie Kaye (the future NXT referee Jessica Carr) at IndyGurlz Grand Prix 2012 where they lost to Fire and Ice, a team comprised of Amber O’Neil and Angel Orsini. Yim also started to become someone that people knew that she was good, but just couldn’t get the job done and win a championship. She came up short on April 7th against Hailey Hatred in a TLW Women’s/IMW Hybrid Fighting Championship at the Remix Pro Royal Battle: Throw Down for the Pound 5, the AIW Women’s Championship twice to Allysin Kay at AIW Girls Night Out 6 and 7 on April 15th and August 4th,and the Reina X World Tag Team Championships with Aki Kambayashi against Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto on June 9th. Yim also fell in the first round of the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Bombshell Championship tournament to Christina Von Eerie on October 11th. This is a tag that no wrestler ever wants put on them. However, Yim would shake that tag early the next year.
In 2012, we started to see a very important feud in Mia Yim’s career. She had her first match against Allysin Kay on January 29th, in AIW to determine the number one contender, where Yim was successful in the match. Yim also competed for the ACW American Joshi Championship on February 19th, but was unable to take the title from Angela Blue. Yim then was in a TLC match in CZW against Greg Excellent at Aerial Assault. Yim also continued to wrestle for Shimmer, losing to Jessie McKay (the future Billy Kay) at Volume 45 in singles action. At Volumes 46 to 48 Yim formed a team with Davina Rose (the future Bayley) and while the team lost to Leon and Ray at Volume 46 and The Canadian Ninjas at Volume 47, they were able to pick up the win over Melanie Cruise and Mena Libra at Volume 48 which marked Mia Yim’s first win on the main card of a Shimmer event. Yim then went to form a team with Jessie Kaye (the future NXT referee Jessica Carr) at IndyGurlz Grand Prix 2012 where they lost to Fire and Ice, a team comprised of Amber O’Neil and Angel Orsini. Yim also started to become someone that people knew that she was good, but just couldn’t get the job done and win a championship. She came up short on April 7th against Hailey Hatred in a TLW Women’s/IMW Hybrid Fighting Championship at the Remix Pro Royal Battle: Throw Down for the Pound 5, the AIW Women’s Championship twice to Allysin Kay at AIW Girls Night Out 6 and 7 on April 15th and August 4th,and the Reina X World Tag Team Championships with Aki Kambayashi against Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto on June 9th. Yim also fell in the first round of the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Bombshell Championship tournament to Christina Von Eerie on October 11th. This is a tag that no wrestler ever wants put on them. However, Yim would shake that tag early the next year.
Yim would win the NWA FUW Women’s Championship on March 16th, 2013 at NWA/FUW Warning Shot from La Rosa Negra. Yim would actually be the final NWA/FUW Champion, as she had successful defenses against Solo Darling, Negra and Leva Bates. Yim also made her TNA debut at TNA One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown 2013 on March 17th where she lost to Tara (Victoria). Yim continued to have big matches in Shimmer as she fell to Amazing Kong (Awesome Kong) at Volume 53 and Jessicka Havok at Volume 57, but beat Evie (the future Dakota Kai) at Volume 56. Yim beat Mercedes Martinez on May 24th at Shine 10 to qualify for the Shine Championship tournament. Yim made it to the finals beating Bates and Ivelisse to get to the finals before falling to Rain. Yim entered the Majestic 12 Tournament, and again got to the finals, where she beat Hania the Howling Huntress and Niya with the help of Alexxis Nevaeh, before having to beat her in the semifinals. She then faces La Rosa Negra again in the finals, but once again came up short.
Early in 2014, Yim seemed to find a really good stride. She formed a team with Leva Bates (pictured above) and entered the Shine Tag Team Championship tournament with the name Lucha Sisters. They beat the Kimber Bombers (Cherry Bomb and Kimber Lee) in the first round and S-N-S Express (Jessie Belle Smothers and Sassy Stephie) on their way to the finals. There, they met Made in Sin (Allysin Kay and Taylor Made) and defeated them to become the first ever Shine Tag Team Champions. The Lucha Sisters were able to retain the championships against S-N-S Express, this time it was Nevaeh and Sassy Stephie, on April 4th. One week later, Mia Yim would have the biggest opportunity in her career at that point. She was victorious over Hikaru Shida at Shimmer Volume 63 and Mercedes Martinez at Volume 64. These two wins granted Mia Yim a Shimmer Championship opportunity against Cheerleader Melissa at Volume 65. While she was unsuccessful in winning that championship, she was able to get the opportunity to challenge for the top championship of the biggest all women’s promotion in North America. Yim would bounce back from the championship match loss by beating Ray at Volume 66. Lucha Sisters would then retain their Shine Tag Team Championships against Evie and Kellie Skater at Shine 18. With her multiple wins around the wrestling world, she earned a shot at the Shine Championship that she came so close to winning in 2013. She challenged Ivelisse for the title at the Full Impact Pro’s Accelerate 2014, but the match went to a no contest. Yim also returned to TNA at One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown where she was victorious Brittany. The win also got her into the Queen of Knockouts Gauntlet Battle Royal which was won by Madison Rayne. It was a whos who of the knockouts division as the match included Angelina Love, Brooke Tessmacher, Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell.The match also included Marti Belle, someone who would be important to Mia Yim’s very near future.
Yim and Bates would lose the Shine tag team championships on June 27th at Shine 20 to Legendary, a team consisted of Brandi Wine and Maili Hosaka. Yim then had another four great matches at the Shimmer tapings. She teamed up with The Global Green Gangsters (Kellie Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa) in a losing effort against AKINO, Kaori Yoneyama and Tsukasa Fujimoto at Volume 67, and also lost to Evie at Volume 68. She bounced back on the second day of tapings, beating Akino at Volume 69 and Tsukasa Fujimoto at Volume 70. Yim then went on to be in a match on October 23rd at an NXT taping, in a loss to Charlotte Flair. After a six year career, she had wrestled for Shimmer and Shine, the two biggest all women’s wrestling promotions in the world, as well as TNA and WWE, the two biggest promotions in North America at the time. She had also done multiple tours of Japan, so it was clear that many people were high on Yim. This was proof when she was a part of a tour with WWNLive in China. She was victorious over Allysin Kay and Su Yung on the tour before falling to the two in a tag team match where Yim teamed with the Shine Champion Ivelisse. The two would then match up on November 16th, for the Shine Championship. There, Yim finally won the championship that had eluded her since her tournament final loss in 2013.
Yim and Bates would lose the Shine tag team championships on June 27th at Shine 20 to Legendary, a team consisted of Brandi Wine and Maili Hosaka. Yim then had another four great matches at the Shimmer tapings. She teamed up with The Global Green Gangsters (Kellie Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa) in a losing effort against AKINO, Kaori Yoneyama and Tsukasa Fujimoto at Volume 67, and also lost to Evie at Volume 68. She bounced back on the second day of tapings, beating Akino at Volume 69 and Tsukasa Fujimoto at Volume 70. Yim then went on to be in a match on October 23rd at an NXT taping, in a loss to Charlotte Flair. After a six year career, she had wrestled for Shimmer and Shine, the two biggest all women’s wrestling promotions in the world, as well as TNA and WWE, the two biggest promotions in North America at the time. She had also done multiple tours of Japan, so it was clear that many people were high on Yim. This was proof when she was a part of a tour with WWNLive in China. She was victorious over Allysin Kay and Su Yung on the tour before falling to the two in a tag team match where Yim teamed with the Shine Champion Ivelisse. The two would then match up on November 16th, for the Shine Championship. There, Yim finally won the championship that had eluded her since her tournament final loss in 2013.
Yim would have successful title defenses against Santana Garrett and two against Nevaeh. Yim would hold the championship until March 4th 2015, where she lost in a loser takes all match to NWA World Women’s Champion Garrett. Yim then returned to Shimmer, but had mixed results. She beat Kyoko Kimura at Volume 73, but lost to Athena in a Two out of Three falls match at Volume 72, failed to win a fatal four way that included Saraya Knight, Kimber Lee and Kay Lee Ray at Volume 74 and also lost to Nicole Savoy at Volume 75. After those tapings, Yim went to TNA, where she underwent a name change and was known as Jade. She would be a member of a stable called Dollhouse, which eventually included the likes of Taryn Terrell, Awesome Kong, Rebel and Marti Bell. While a part of Dollhouse, the stable would win some matches and lose some, but just two months into her TNA career, she got a Knockouts Championship match against Gail Kim, but was unable to win the championship. Yim then went to Europe, and won a fatal four way as Southside Wrestling Entertainment at Menace II Society V which included Toni Storm, Nixon Newell (the future Tegan Nox) and the SWE Queen of Southside champion Kay Lee Ray. Yim’s win earned her a Queen of Southside Championship match against Ray at SWE Retribution 6, but Ray was able to retain her championship. Yim then returned to Shimmer again and had mixed results. She beat Kellyanne at Volume 76, lost in a Shimmer Championship number one contender battle royal, lost in the first round of the Shimmer Tag Team number one contenders tag team tournament to Mount Tessa (Tessa Blanchard and Vanessa Kraven) after reforming the Lucha Sisters, both at Volume 77. She also lost to Nicole Matthews at Volume 78 and fell in a fatal four way that included Allysin Kay, Veda Scott and Shazza McKenzie, where McKenzie was victorious. The battle royal featured many recognizable faces in the women’s division. There was Candice LeRae, the eventual winner, Allysin Kay, Cheerleader Melisa, Evie, Heidi Lovelace (the future Ruby Riott), Hiroyo Matsumoto, Kay Lee Ray, Kimber Lee, Madison Eagles, Yim, McKenzie, Blanchard and Kraven.
2016 saw a lot more of Jade in TNA. She teamed with Tyrus (the former Brodus Clay) defeated Gail Kim and Lashley at One Night Only: Joker’s Wild 4 to advance to the final, which there was 100,000 dollar gauntlet battle royal and was won by Drew Galloway (Drew McIntyre). Ti was then on Impact that Jade did the unthinkable. She beat Marti Bell and Rebel to become the number one contender for the Knockout’s championship. She was able to beat Madison Rayne and Gail Kim to become the new Knockouts champion. She then got a chance at the SWE Queen of Southside Championship at Raw Deal 5. She was a part of a fatal four way which had Nixon Newell, the champ, Penelope, and Toni Storm. Yim was able to win the championship from Newell, and won the rematch at Risky Business. Jade retained the Knockouts championship against Rayne and Kim before dropping the championship at Slammiversary XIV to Sienna (Allysin Kay) in a triple threat that also included Gail Kim. Yim then formed a team with Kay Lee Ray called Fly High WDSS. They were victorious over Melanie Cruise and Yumi Ohki at Shimmer Volume 81, and earned a Shimmer Tag Team Title shot at Volume 82, but were unable to win the titles from the Kimber Bombs. They then participated in a fatal four way Shimmer Tag Team Championship match, which was won by team Slap Happy, Evie and Lovelace at Volume 84. Yim also had a match against Shayna Baszler at Volume 85, where Baszler was victorious. Yim also lost her Queen of Southside Championship at Retribution 7 to Kay Lee Ray in a triple threat that included Alex Windsor. Yim was also unsuccessful to win the Knockouts championship back in another triple threat match including Sienna and Kim again. She also fell in a fatal five way which included Allie, who won the match, Sienna, Madison Rayne and Marti Bell. Yim again failed to win the Knockout’s Championship in a six sides of steel match to Rosemary.
2016 saw a lot more of Jade in TNA. She teamed with Tyrus (the former Brodus Clay) defeated Gail Kim and Lashley at One Night Only: Joker’s Wild 4 to advance to the final, which there was 100,000 dollar gauntlet battle royal and was won by Drew Galloway (Drew McIntyre). Ti was then on Impact that Jade did the unthinkable. She beat Marti Bell and Rebel to become the number one contender for the Knockout’s championship. She was able to beat Madison Rayne and Gail Kim to become the new Knockouts champion. She then got a chance at the SWE Queen of Southside Championship at Raw Deal 5. She was a part of a fatal four way which had Nixon Newell, the champ, Penelope, and Toni Storm. Yim was able to win the championship from Newell, and won the rematch at Risky Business. Jade retained the Knockouts championship against Rayne and Kim before dropping the championship at Slammiversary XIV to Sienna (Allysin Kay) in a triple threat that also included Gail Kim. Yim then formed a team with Kay Lee Ray called Fly High WDSS. They were victorious over Melanie Cruise and Yumi Ohki at Shimmer Volume 81, and earned a Shimmer Tag Team Title shot at Volume 82, but were unable to win the titles from the Kimber Bombs. They then participated in a fatal four way Shimmer Tag Team Championship match, which was won by team Slap Happy, Evie and Lovelace at Volume 84. Yim also had a match against Shayna Baszler at Volume 85, where Baszler was victorious. Yim also lost her Queen of Southside Championship at Retribution 7 to Kay Lee Ray in a triple threat that included Alex Windsor. Yim was also unsuccessful to win the Knockouts championship back in another triple threat match including Sienna and Kim again. She also fell in a fatal five way which included Allie, who won the match, Sienna, Madison Rayne and Marti Bell. Yim again failed to win the Knockout’s Championship in a six sides of steel match to Rosemary.
Jade once again entered the Joker’s Wild tournament, and once again won in the first round, this time teaming with Sienna to beat Allie and Laurel Van Ness (the future Chelsea Green) in order to advance to the finals, but was unable to win the finals, as Moose walked away with the win. She also failed to win the Knockout’s Championship twice, as she lost in a Monster’s Ball match against Rosemary at Genesis and again in a last man standing match at Impact. Yim then reunited with Leva Bates to reform the Lucha Sisters to be a part of the Queen of Combat Tag Team Championship tournament. They made it to the finals as they beat Team Sea Stars in the first round, a team of Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo, and the Sexy Young Caramels, Devyn Nicole and Savannah Evans in the semi finals. They fell in the finals to Van Ness and Taeler Hendrix. Yim had a match with Dementia D’Rose for the Big Time Wrestling Championship at March of Champions, where she won the championship. She would lose it the very next night. Fly High WDSS would get a Shimmer Tag Team Championship match at Volume 91, but lost to Mount Tessa. Yim also fell to Rachel Ellering in a match for the Wrestling Circus Lady of the Ring Championship at Dive Hard with a Vengeance, as well as the Queen of Southside Championship from Sarya Knight at SWE Nothing to Lose. Fly High WDSS would get another Shimmer Tag Team Championship match at Volume 92, but once again fell short. The teammates then had to face each other in a number one contenders match at Volume 93, where Yim won. She was unsuccessful to win the championship from Mercedes Martinez at Volume 94. Yim then went on to compete in the first ever Mae Young Classic, an all women’s tournament held by WWE. She was able to beat Sarah Logan in the first round, but fell to Shayna Baszler in the second round. Yim would also lose to Baszler in an AIW Women’s Championship match. It was clear at this point in her career, that Mia Yim was a big name in the world of women’s wrestling. However, it was then that she suffered a major injury.
Yim was a participant in a 10 woman elimination tag team match on November 24th, 2017 where she and the team of Jordynne Grace, LuFisto, Brittany Blake and Faye Jackson went against Allie Kat, Deonna Purrazzo, Laynie Luck, Sahara Se7en and Veda Scott. During the match, one of the wrestlers landed on Yim’s leg, breaking her fibula and pushing her ankle out of alignment. Yim was out of action for a little under five months while she recovered from surgery. Yim returned to the ring on April 5th, 2018 in a mixed tag match where she teamed with Wheeler YUTA in a losing effort against Tessa Blanchard and MJF. Yim returned just in time to be featured on the Shimmer Volume 100 card where she teamed back up with Kay Lee Ray, as well as Rhia O’Reilly to beat Kellyanne English, Veda Scott and Zoe Lucas. Yim would go on to win the Tidal Championship women’s championship from Little Miss Roxxy at High Tide. She then was able to defend the title over El Ligero (for some reason) before having to forfeit the championship due to the next step in her career.
Yim was once again selected to compete in the Mae Young Classic in 2018. She beat old foe Allysin Kay in the first round and former champion in WWE Kaitlyn in the second round before falling to eventual tournament winner Toni Storm in the quarterfinals. After the match the crowd chanted ‘Please Sign Mia’ to which Triple H came out and said, ‘Okay’ and she was the only wrestler signed after the tournaments conclusion. 12 other of the wrestlers were already signed before the tournament, and Karen Q and Rachel Evers (or Ellering) were both signed in early 2019. Yim’s final independent scene match took place on September 2nd, where her and Santana Garret were victorious over Britt Baker and Chelsea Green at Warrior Wrestling 2. Yim then debut for WWE at the NXT Live show in St. Petersburgh, Florida on September 29th, where she was victorious over Aliyah. Yim beat Aliyah again at her first TV Taping for NXT on October 17th. At the same TV Taping, Yim lost to Bianca Belair, a feud that is still going to this day. Yim would qualify for a fatal four way number one contender’s match for the NXT Women’s Championship when she beat Reina Gonzalez, but was unable to win the fatal four way, which was won by Belair.
Yim would appear on an NXT UK show, where she fell to Jinny. Yim would then return to NXT, and face Xia Li, and would win the match. Both would then be attacked by Shana Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke. This lead to a match against Baszler, where Baszler would win. The house show circuit would then feature Yim unsuccessfully challenging Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship. Yim would then get the biggest win of her career when she beat Bianca Belair on NXT TV, becoming the first person to defeat Belair on NXT TV. She would repeat this feat at the TV Taping that happened at Takeover XXV.
Yim’s future is very bright in NXT. I think we are definitely looking at a future NXT Women’s champion, and possibly the woman that will be the one to end the reign of terror of Shayna Baszler as NXT Women’s Champion. Yim has looked fantastic her whole career, but since signing with WWE, she has seemed to take it to another level. It seems like I’m not the only one who has seen this, as Baszler herself has always had her sights set on Yim it has seemed, as she has attacked her multiple times since Yim has appeared in NXT. I think it’s only a matter of time before we see that NXT Women’s Championship around the waist of the HBIC.
